Dedication Set After Expansion at Vermont Health Center

Vermont officials are celebrating the completion of a $1.2 million expansion at the Plainfield Health Center.

On Monday, the health center unveiled its new facilities, which will house more mental health services — including psychiatrists — space for yoga classes and to store a mobile dental program.

The 5,000-square-foot building was paid for by $988,000 federal stimulus funding and about $200,000 raised locally.

In the past decade, Vermont has gone from having two federally qualified health centers to eight, including 47 sites where more than 120,000 Vermonters get primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has helped secure $12.5 billion to expand health centers across the country, train primary care physicians and double to 40 million the number of patients served.